Tue Sep 23, 2008 at 13:50:27 PM PDT

This past weekend the Yes on 8 campaign had talked up passing out ONE MILLION lawn signs. It was going to be their big splash event, something big and bold to get a bunch of earned media.

To counter that push, the No on 8, Equality for All campaign organized a bunch of visibility events for the media and to raise the public face/profile of the campaign. Then shuttled the the volunteers back inside to do the work that will bring this election home: calling undecided voters.

But a funny thing happened.... There were no lawn signs, no big events from the Yes side.

I started hearing rumors that they had trouble with their vendor. It turns out they were stuck in China. Yes, China. Here is an email from a one Gena Downey, producer of the cult hit Mormon film (I'm joking about the cult and hit thing) God's Army.

The YES on Prop 8 yard signs have been delayed in route from China. We expect to distribute them within the next two weeks. I will email you as soon as they arrive so we can make sure you have one immediately. In the interim, please continue to take note of any friends or family who would like one as well.

So, the Yes campaign, rather than purchasing some good old fashioned union made in America lawn signs, they went to some cut rate producer in China who blew the delivery date by at least three weeks. What, they couldn't afford traditional American signs?

That seems to have worked out well. Why does the Yes on 8 campaign hate America?

Meanwhile a friend emailed Gina to inquire about the signs and she responded back excitedly. I guess she hasn't figured it out that her email has been forwarded around.

The signs are not in yet. They are coming in from China and have been delayed but as soon as they arrive I will have them at my place in Burbank. That's great news and I can get them up to you as soon as they land. Wow, so good to hear this!

Yesterday a wonderful meeting was held with the eight Area Directors in Northern California. These are amazingly powerful people. The Area folks represent the grassroots effort for the passage of the Proposition and their responsibility overlays each Coordinating Council. This was a great and powerful meeting. I assure you that the LDS folks who work closely with or who are on the Board directly of the coalition are very impressive and politically experienced folks. It was great to see.

I have a few answers to frequent questions that are being asked and I feel that if I were you, I'd wanna know. Hope that this helps:

Organization, it' s a little confusing!? Answer: The Brethren have felt that the best way to organize and pass the Proposition is to have an Ecclesiastical arm and a Grassroots arm to organization. Elder Dalton, Area Seventy and Chair of California for every thing, reports to the Brethren. I assist him. We work with coordinating councils, all 17 in California and then Stake Presidents and Bishops, rank and file. The second leg to organization is grassroots. This is done so as to engage as many like minded folks who are not LDS, but whom will help. The senior folks who run the grassroots are LDS at the coalition and are headed by Glen Greener and Gary Lawrence. These folks are assisted in Nor Cal by Boyd Smith, and in turn by Area, then Regional Directors. The regional directors overlay Stakes. Below are Zip Code Supervisors by wards.

What is the role of grassroots? Answer: The grassroots folks in each Stake, Regional Directors will train zip code supervisors. Their goal, is to find the voters who will vote yes. It is not to persuade others ... but to find those who will vote yes. The ZCS will seek, with the RD help, to encourage as many as the ward members and like minded people as possible, to accept eight different responsibilities, all from walking a precinct to determine folks opinions (not to sell), to calling, to placing signage, to a myriad of essential tasks that Area Directors will oversee. Please know Presidents, that the RDs/ZCS's will be contacting many many people to accept responsibilities. We hope that you are fine with this happening without the Stake President or Bishop approving each assignment! We assume that you are ok with that!!

Will like minded people from other congregations really join with us? Answer: There was a conference call last week with 1200 pastors in California with James Dobson as the featured speaker. This Thursday, there is another conference call with 2000 California clergy. It appears that the effort on the part of like minded people is huge compared to eight years ago. The Area Directors and Regional Directors will be aware of contacting the congregations for a joint effort. Walking the precincts in particular is where we all may have an opportunity to grab a good friend of another religion and walk with them. If LDS people want to participate in that conference and know of the site of broadcast, they are welcome to go.

What is the timeline from here for the next few weeks.? Answer:

1. Congregations of LDS all having been taught the doctrine in July so that they may see the importance of fundraising and grassroots participation. Some Stakes have called all Stake Council and wives as well as several folks who may be able to contribute not on the Council. The Stake President, in that Cottage Meeting, has asked for their support. A great part of a fund raising effort, accomplished in one night.

2. August 1st: All Regional Directors have been called and contacted by Area Directors for training.

3. August 3rd: Training of Regional Directors commences by the Area Directors

4. August 1st-10th: Zip Code Supervisors are in place and are to be trained by Regional Directors..

5. August 16th: The First of three Saturday precinct walks are to be held under the direction of the Regional Directors.

6. August 23rd: The Second of the Saturday precinct walks are to be held.

7. Sept. 22nd: One million signs will be put up in yards around the state at 7:00am.

Other timeline events will be planned and executed and you will be updated.

That's enough. if I caused more questions than answered, please hit me back.

Thanks for all that you and have on your plate. The Lord will make up whatever we all feel we are lacking.

Brother Packer

Disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign. These opinions are my own and are not necessarily those of my employer.

The outsourcing, that is. Most commercial printing (books, comic books and so on) is done overseas, either in China or Canada...and I wondered when a political campaign would buy something from an outsourced vendor to save money.

The thing is, I can't imagine 1,000,000 lawn signs being that much cheaper in China, once you factor in the time constraint (which these bozos bungled, and I'm glad they did) and the shipping. Political printing often has to get the job done a lot faster than a commercial job anyway.

Plus it's not like they couldnt' get these in the USA....this is a multi-tiered FAIL and I'm just glad it happened to them. Sucks to be a Yes on 8 supporter!

Is it just me, or does that seem like a very high number, even for a well-funded statewide campaign? I mean, those suckers start to cost some money in bulk... when you factor in the metal stand thingies, or even stakes.

Does anyone on this site have expertise to estimate what that might cost? And yeah, economies of scale seem to hurt them here, especially with regard to moving them around the state from Long Beach, or wherever they take delivery.

And does anyone find the image of Gina with 1 mil yard signs in her home kind of amusing?

"God's Army," the low-budget drama about missionaries proselytizing in Hollywood that [Richard] Dutcher wrote, directed and starred in, garnered nearly $3 million at the box office, a smash by indie-movie standards.

Asked about it now, Dutcher (who has since left the church) says: "It's like having porn on your résumé."

As far as Gena Downey is concerned, I wonder how "previously worked for Disney and the Yes on 8 campaign" is going to look on her résumé?